Media wields powerful influence on individual attitudes and behaviors in the modern society. Decades of research on the cultivation effects of television media established a robust linkage between television viewing and individual values and subjective well-being (e.g., Belk, 1985; Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002).

Recent years have seen an explosion of social media powered by the internet technology. Social media, as a powerful platform for information dissemination and communication, revolutionized the way people communicate with each other. A growing body of literature has capitalized on this trend with numerous studies devoted to understanding the internet phenomenon. Yet, there is a paucity of empirical research investigating both types of media simultaneously regarding their influence on individual values and attitudes. This study fills this gap by juxtaposing the social media (new media) and television media (traditional media) to investigate their respective cultivation effect on materialism, religiosity, and to predict perceived standard of living and life satisfaction. Our focal research question is: do social media and television media differ in their influence on values and subjective well-being, and if so, how?

Jie G. McCardle and Sandra Speck. "A Dual Media Model of Cultivation Effects on Values and Subjective Well-Being" The Society of Business Research Conference (2015) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jie-mccardle/8/